Taumoepeau Building rising from the ashes [1]
Wednesday, August 5, 2009 - 15:15. Updated on Wednesday, July 15, 2015 - 09:39.
The foundation pouring for the new Taumoepeau Building in central Nuku'alofa has led the way in a new method of construction for Tonga.
A raft type foundation, which was constructed with over 60 tonnes of rebar steel, is the largest installation of its type in Tonga.
On July 24 from when the laying of concrete started at 10.30 am, some 300 cubic meters of concrete was off loaded, the largest single pour in 24 hours that has ever been carried out in Tonga.
The suppliers of the concrete were Royco Ready Mix Concrete, a local company, working with the China Construction Engineering Corporation Company (CCECC). The Chinese company is carrying out all the construction work in Nuku'alofa, under a $118 million soft loan from the government of China to the Tongan government for the reconstruction of Nuku'alofa following idestructive fires on November 16, 2006.
The Taumoepeau family lost two buildings by fire - a three-storey concrete building, that was Nuku'alofa's first multi-story concrete office block built in the 1970's, and a single-storey wooden building - a historic location that was one of the first general merchandise stores ever built in early settlement of Nuku'alofa.